Leadership Principle #31 – Working hard: Where the rubber meets the road

In life today, there are many people who are quick to provide “hacks” or shortcuts to help you achieve everything you’ve wanted, but in half the time with a fraction of the effort.  The “life hack” mentality has taken over a significant portion of popular culture and unfortunately in business, this turns out to be a false narrative.  As someone who built and ran successful companies and had a long leadership career spanning many decades, I’m here to tell you there are no shortcuts.  This is not a pleasant message to hear, but it’s critical.  Working hard is an absolutely necessary piece of the puzzle. 

Of course, there is no guarantee that simply by working hard you will automatically be successful, but it is a guarantee that if you don’t work hard, you won’t be successful.  Plain and simple.  Any level of achievement requires hard work.

Though this concept may seem simple on the surface, there are a few important caveats to discuss.  First of all, I’m not talking about being busy here.  Nor am I talking about the “why” behind the ability to work hard.  Motivation is a different conversation.  I’m talking about the paradigm you need to cultivate within yourself to develop the skills to stay disciplined, inspect your activities, remain accountable and stay healthy.  This is a learned behavior.  For many people, the idea of hard work as a learned behavior is a surprise, but it is in fact a practice that can be cultivated through small daily activities.

The good news here is that hard work builds self-esteem, confidence and satisfaction.  And the more of those character traits you can cultivate, the greater the rewards become for the hard work you invest along the way.  The hard work becomes an intrinsic reward, in addition to the external rewards you reap from the career success you gain.  But it’s necessary to keep your foot on the gas pedal.  No one said the journey will be easy, and it’s just as hard to stay in that office as it was to get there.

This is where the rubber meets the road – the hard work paves the path along which you walk as CEO.  If you are interested in learning more about cultivating the ability to work hard and the steps required to keep your efforts in balance with the rest of your life, this is where a CEO coach can help.  I’ve guided numerous individuals through similar journeys and can assist you in achieving your goals.  Reach out today for a conversation.